LONG BLOG

With a rumored 400 dollar console down payments looming ever closer and both houses of hardware confirming the lack of backwards compatibility, it dawned on me: Why purchase more things that will be proven obsolete in 6 months and make that jump into the future all the harder to accomplish?

It's with this that I've decided to take the inevitable leap of faith and not waste much more on the remaining vessels of the dying aristocracy called the current generation (Dont worry Last of Us and Beyond: Two Souls, you will safely be purchased). Its in the meantime that I shall bind, wetting my palette with the games of yesteryear, especially playing some of gaming's must-have's that I might have been looked over or put behind the ever prominent backlog, waiting for a decent length of time to dedicate a sitting. Now is that time.

Throughout the summer I'll be updating these with my thoughts on each game,†Carter's Quest Style, painting my thoughts before and after experiencing them. This does feel alittle out of place, being more a general collection as opposed to a specific series or franchise, but the glue connecting my titles together will be the that I plan on broadcasting these over on Twitch.tv, as well as frequently posting updates here, dont worry I wont make you hop around, though encourage is another matter nudge, wink
†http://www.twitch.tv/ariccastillo†.

I remember playing this as a lad on my ancestral brick Gameboy, man do I remember that thing. I was probably one of the last generation to remember that olí thing. As a kid, I never knew Kirbyís Dreamland was actually the first outing of the pink puff ball. Even as a growing adult, after getting to know more of the repertoire, I always assumed the Gameboy adventure would have been the spin off to the NES, wrong like the rest of us.†

Man this game was better as a kid though. Itís not bad fundamentally, its mechanics are fine, enemies are varied, but it is alittle funny how Kirbyís floating ability breaks everything, especially for such a short game. This game could easily be beaten within an hour.† And while I dont disagree with anyone with issues with the Kirby seriesís ease, Iíve always have an affinity to the pink ball, mainly interested in his friends of the later dreamland games.†

When Doom 3 was upon release, I was excited. I knew the seriesís pedigree, but I hadn't spent the time to learn the praise, firsthand. I was way too young for the originals, and I recall owning Doom 64, though I could never make it past the first few dimly lit hallways, blaming my ignorance on poor design. By the time the 3rd was about to release, I was ready for my generationís Doom. Duct tape in hand, I was ready for these dark halls, ready for the depths of Marís hell.† My anticipation turned into wax wings, as it turns out, as I never got very far in, after all. The anticipation mixed with the anxiety of the first couple of foreboding halls was enough to deal me in. The experience didn't feel worth it without a companion, either, as the experience of jump scares never felt the same alone, without someone there to enjoy the scares as well as enjoying my look of fear as I dive further into the Inferno.

At first, that anxiety seemed unwarranted, as most of the soldiers and introductory demons can be handled with a moderate skill in shooting games, something that should be pretty common in these days, with online multiplayer running rampant among the generation, but diving further in, the locales began to affect me. The dark hallways still do very much for the atmosphere, as I try to keep it traditional with limited flashlight use, especially while in the darkness the groans, demonic military chatter, failing machinary and demonic howls are heard just around the corner. As I dive deeper, and the mouth of hell starts widening, things start to pile up and add to the tension, with depleting resources and more enemies being unleashed. Like Dante traveling through the Inferno, I cant wait to pop out to the shining side with a sigh of relief, at this point. Doom 3 can go to hell.

P.S. Doom definitely gives me an alien vibe as well, with its endless hallways of the mechanical labyrinth that make up the Mars base, even though it is an unused cliche at this point in gaming.†

I didnít have much thoughts on Prime when it released. Friends around me were adored with the re-envisioned franchise, many of them on theyíre first Metroid. Something about it didnít stick with me at the time, I wasnít invested with the franchise, with only a limited knowledge of its history; Mostly that the original NES †and SNESís Super Metroid existed, and most of my time with Samus coming from the Smash Bros. games. Looking back, I think most of my gripe was with the aesthetic, unreasonably uninterested into the cyberpunk-ish design and the robotic soundtrack.

Over the years since, I fell deep in love with the Metroid series, right around the time I felt immense pity of Samus on her Other M debut. Since experiencing the (possibly) worst of Samusí adventure, Ive been pressing to visit all of her grander adventures. Beginning with the latest series (besides Other M) I figured going back and visiting the 2 editions thats peaked my interest: Prime and Super Metroid.

Lonely exploration and the other staples of the series are definitely present in my mind. For the first stretch of the game I felt the backtracking exploration to be a little dull. I fully understand the magic of MetroidVania but paired with the First Person Platforming and infuriating motion controls I just wasnít feeling it, ya know. It hit me about at the Frozen Phendrana Drifts, though. After acquiring the bulk of Samusís weaponry and treading through old locales, that signature feeling of ďOh! So thats what opens that door!Ē, began to appear. It never really loses its luster, even if slightly forgotten.

Side note: From the very second of hitting the opening menus, the howling synthetic whistles of the intro theme bring a sense of nostalgia that never existed. †The music was one of the biggest motivators to keep pushing forward, desperately chasing for that next great tune.